Even the mini-reviews are getting to be too much (hey, I watch a lot of shows here), so I think I’m just going to stick to general impressions/thoughts on recent shows, skipping here and there as I go.  Hope you enjoy.

The Simpsons’ twentieth (!) season kicked off with a bang, and I found myself laughing a lot. Despite South Park dedicating an entire episode to “Simspons Did It!”, The Simpsons seems to be a bit behind in parodying things that South Park has already done: First 24 and now Dog the Bounty Hunter, but both times the different shows went in such totally different directions it didn’t matter. And both episodes have been good, and that’s what really matters. The erotic bakery storyline wasn’t hysterical, but it served its purpose in delivering some random laughs.

True Blood is finally starting to pick up, probably because they no longer have to worry about annoying things like set-up and establishing characters, but they seem to have gotten the knack of who these people are, what’s going on in their world, and the stories have started to pick up some traction.

Little Britain USA didn’t win me over immediately, but I loved the dog “suggesting” its owner strip and stand in garbage was great, and the show proved its worth with the line, “In America there are more fat people than there are people.”

Heroes still feels like they’re recycling plot points; now there’s another guy who paints his visions?  Can’t they come up with any new powers for people to have?  And next week we’ll see evil Claire and good Sylar?  I don’t know, I just want more from this show.

Fringe is getting better and better, and I like the fact that they try to pack in one “eww” moment per episode, like a guy getting holes drilled in his head or someone being tortured with electric shocks through their nostrils.  I’m not quite sure how the show is going to turn out less complicated than Lost with so many unexplained tidbits happening in each episode, but whatever, I’ll keep watching.

Smallville’s season is young, but I already really miss Lex. He really was one of the best parts of the show, and Tess Mercer just isn’t working for me as a replacement. The introduction of Davis was also incredibly yawn-worthy. This is the guy who will eventually kill Superman? Really? And how the hell did Clark get hired at the Daily Planet – he’s a college dropout that wrote a couple of articles in his high school paper, yet he was given a reporter job at one of the biggest newspapers in the country? And how has there been no mention of Kara still being trapped in the Phantom Zone? I get that she’s no longer a cast member, but shouldn’t Clark care that his cousin is trapped in a floating prison in space? And what’s with Lois suddenly being smitten with Clark? She never noticed him before, and even though this show has already taken many great liberties with Superman continuity, isn’t she supposed to continue to be apathetic towards him only to then fall for his alter-ego? Having Lois be interested in Clark kind of hurts that eventual love triangle. But to the show’’s credit, I am intrigued by the possibility that Tess is creating an army of super-villains, perhaps a Legion of Doom in training?